''Husbands and Wives'' is a 1992 American

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film written and directed by Woody Allen. The film stars Allen, Mia Farrow,

Sydney Pollack Sydney Irwin Pollack (July 1, 1934 – May 26, 2008) was an American film director, producer and actor. Pollack directed more than 20 films and 10 television shows, acted in over 30 movies or shows and produced over 44 films. For his film ''Out ...

, Judy Davis, Lysette Anthony,

Juliette Lewis Juliette Lake Lewis (born June 21, 1973) is an American actress and alternative rock singer. She is known for her portrayals of offbeat characters, often in films with dark themes. Lewis became an "it girl" of American cinema in the early 1990s, ...

, Liam Neeson and

Blythe Danner Blythe Katherine Danner (born February 3, 1943) is an American actress. Accolades she has received include two Primetime Emmy Awards for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Izzy Huffstodt on '' Huff'' (2004–2006), and a ...

. The film debuted shortly after the end of Allen and Farrow's romantic and professional partnership, and was the last of their 13 films together. The movie is filmed by Carlo Di Palma with a handheld camera style and features documentary-like interviews with the characters interspersed with the story. ''Husbands and Wives'', released by TriStar Pictures, was Allen's first film as sole director for a studio other than United Artists or

Orion Pictures Orion Pictures (legal name Orion Releasing, LLC) is an American film production and distribution company owned by Amazon through its Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) subsidiary. In its original operating period, the company produced and released films ...

(both now part of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) since '' Take the Money and Run'' (1969). It received critical acclaim despite being a box-office failure, and was nominated for two Academy Awards, Best Supporting Actress (Judy Davis) and Best Original Screenplay (Woody Allen).

Plot

The film is about two couples: Jack and Sally, and Gabe and Judy. The film starts when Jack and Sally arrive at Gabe and Judy's apartment and announce their separation. Gabe is shocked, but Judy takes the news personally and is very hurt. Still confused, they go out for dinner at a Chinese restaurant. A few weeks later Sally visits the apartment of a colleague. They plan to go out together to the opera and then to dinner. Sally asks if she can use his phone, and calls Jack. Learning from him that he has met someone, she accuses him of having had an affair during their marriage. Judy and Gabe are introduced to Jack's new girlfriend, Sam, an aerobics trainer. While Judy and Sam shop, Gabe calls Jack's new girlfriend a "cocktail waitress" and tells him that he is crazy for leaving Sally for her. About a week later, Judy introduces Sally to Michael, Judy's magazine colleague, in whom Judy herself is clearly interested. Michael asks Sally out, and they begin dating; Michael is smitten, but Sally is dissatisfied with the relationship. Meanwhile, Gabe has developed a friendship with a young student of his, Rain, and has her read the manuscript of his novel. She comments on its brilliance but has several criticisms, to which Gabe reacts defensively. At a party, Jack learns from a friend that Sally is seeing someone and flees with Sam in a jealous rage. They have an intense argument, and Jack drives back to his house to find Sally in bed with Michael. He asks Sally to give their marriage another chance, but she tells him to leave. Less than two weeks later, however, Jack and Sally are back together and the couple meets Judy and Gabe for dinner like old times. After dinner, Judy and Gabe get into an argument at their apartment about her not sharing her poetry. After Gabe makes a failed pass at her, Judy tells him she thinks the relationship is over; a week later Gabe moves out. Judy begins seeing Michael. Gabe goes to Rain's 21st birthday party and gives her a music box as a present. She asks him to kiss her, and though the two share a romantic moment, Gabe tells her they should not pursue it any further. As he walks home in the rain, he realizes that he has ruined his relationship with Judy. Michael tells Judy he needs time alone and he can't help still having feelings for Sally. Angry and hurt, Judy walks out into the rain. Highlighting her "passive-aggressiveness," Michael follows and begs her to stay with him. A year and a half later, they marry. In the end, the audience sees a pensive Jack and Sally back together. Jack and Sally admit their marital problems still exist (her frigidity is not solved), but they find they accept their problems as simply the price they have to pay to remain together. Gabe is living alone because he says he is not dating for the time being, as he does not want to hurt anyone, including himself. The film ends with an immediate cut to black after Gabe asks the unseen documentary crew, "Can I go? Is this over?"

Cast

The cast includes (in credits order): * Woody Allen as Gabe Roth * Mia Farrow as Judy Roth * Judy Davis as Sally Simmons *

as Jack Simmons *

as Rain * Liam Neeson as Michael Gates * Lysette Anthony as Sam * Cristi Conaway as Shawn Grainger, call girl * Timothy Jerome as Paul, Sally's date * Ron Rifkin as Richard, Rain's analyst * Bruce Jay Friedman as Peter Styles * Jeffrey Kurland as interviewer-narrator (voice) * Benno Schmidt as Judy's ex-husband *

Nick Metropolis Nicholas Constantine Metropolis (Greek: ; June 11, 1915 – October 17, 1999) was a Greek-American physicist. Metropolis received his BSc (1937) and PhD in physics (1941, with Robert Mulliken) at the University of Chicago. Shortly afterwards, ...

as TV scientist * Rebecca Glenn as Gail * Galaxy Craze as Harriet * John Doumanian as Hamptons' party guest * Gordon Rigsby as Hamptons' party guest * Ilene Blackman as Receptionist *

as Rain's mother * Brian McConnachie as Rain's father * Ron August as Rain's ex lover * John Bucher as Rain's ex lover * Matthew Flint as Carl, Rain's Boyfriend

Soundtrack

*"What Is This Thing Called Love" (1929) by

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in film. Born to ...

, performed by Leo Reisman and His Orchestra *"West Coast Blues" (1960), written and performed by Wes Montgomery *Symphony No. 9 in D, I. ''Andante Commodo'' (1909–10) by

Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...

, performed by John Barbirolli and the Berlin Philharmonic *"That Old Feeling" (1937) by Lew Brown (lyrics) and

Sammy Fain Sammy Fain (born Samuel E. Feinberg; June 17, 1902 – December 6, 1989) was an American composer of popular music. In the 1920s and early 1930s, he contributed numerous songs that form part of The Great American Songbook, and to Broadway theatre. ...

(music), performed by

Stan Getz Stanley Getz (February 2, 1927 – June 6, 1991) was an American jazz saxophonist. Playing primarily the tenor saxophone, Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, with his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of ...

and Gerry Mulligan *"Top Hat, White Tie and Tails" (1935) by Irving Berlin, performed by Bernie Leighton *"Makin' Whoopee" (1928), by Walter Donaldson (music) and Gus Kahn (lyrics), performed by Bernie Leighton *"The Song Is You" (1932), by Jerome Kern (music) and

Oscar Hammerstein II Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II (; July 12, 1895 – August 23, 1960) was an American lyricist, librettist, theatrical producer, and (usually uncredited) director in the musical theater for almost 40 years. He won eight Ton ...

(lyrics), performed by Bernie Leighton

Reception

Box office

''Husbands and Wives'' opened on September 18, 1992 in 865 theatres, where it earned $3,520,550 ($4,070 per screen) in its opening weekend. It went on to gross $10.5 million in North America during its theatrical run. The film was also screened at the 1992 Toronto Festival of Festivals.

Critical response

''Husbands and Wives'' opened to acclaim from film critics. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 93% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 40 reviews, with an average score of 8.2/10. Peter Travers of '' Rolling Stone'' called it "a defining film for these emotionally embattled times; it's classic Woody Allen." Todd McCarthy of '' Variety'' similarly praised the film as "a full meal, as it deals with the things of life with intelligence, truthful drama and rueful humor." Vincent Canby of '' The New York Times'' called it "a very fine, sometimes brutal comedy about a small group of contemporary New Yorkers, each an edgy, self-analyzing achiever who goes through life without much joy, but who finds a certain number of cracked satisfactions along the way." He added, "'Husbands and Wives' -- the entire Allen canon, for that matter -- represents a kind of personal cinema for which there is no precedent in modern American movies. Even our best directors are herd animals. Mr. Allen is a rogue: he travels alone."

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

of the '' Chicago Sun-Times'' opined, "... what 'Husbands and Wives' argues is that many 'rational' relationships are actually not as durable as they seem, because somewhere inside every person is a child crying me! me! me! We say we want the other person to be happy. What we mean is, we want them to be happy with us, just as we are, on our terms." In 2016, ''

Time Out Time-out, Time Out, or timeout may refer to: Time * Time-out (sport), in various sports, a break in play, called by a team * Television timeout, a break in sporting action so that a commercial break may be taken * Timeout (computing), an enginee ...

'' contributors ranked ''Husbands and Wives'' fifth among Allen's efforts, with Keith Uhlich praising the work's "trenchant examination of long-term relationships on the downswing". The same year, Robbie Collin and Tim Robey of '' The Daily Telegraph'' listed ''Husbands and Wives'' as his seventh greatest film, calling it "a rapid marvel of four-way characterization" and praising the opening scene as "one of Allen’s most vividly written, shot and acted scenes ever".

Accolades

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Husbands And Wives 1992 films 1990s romantic comedy-drama films 1990s mockumentary films American mockumentary films American romantic comedy-drama films American satirical films Best Foreign Film Guldbagge Award winners Films about marriage Films directed by Woody Allen Films produced by Robert Greenhut Films set in New York City Films shot in New York City Films whose writer won the Best Original Screenplay BAFTA Award Films with screenplays by Woody Allen TriStar Pictures films 1992 comedy films 1992 drama films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films